Seeing how Roma and even Real Madrid got absolutely slaughtered by Barca, I seriously wonder how well Evergrande will do... as in losing by >5 goals at least
? They will not destroy Evergrande in this way. Just will score 2-3 to secure the win and that's enough. Like Bayern did.
As a Brazilian fan I look forward to see how you guys match up with club America and river plate. What is the expected lineup? Are all the Brazilians fit? Does Rene jr even play? How good is your defense?
Expected XI: Zeng Cheng, Zhang Linpeng, Feng Xiaoting, Kim Young-gwon, Zou Zheng, Zheng Zhi, Huang Bowen, Paulinho, Ricardo Goulart, Elkeson, Zheng Long All the Brazilian players (Paulinho, Ricardo Goulart, Elkeson) are fit except Alan Carvalho who's still injured. Rene Junior hasn't played for Evergrande since last season and is in the reserve squad. Zeng Cheng is a solid goalkeeper (and arguably the best Chinese keeper alongside Wang Dalei). Zhang Linpeng is by far China's best defender and one of the best defenders in Asia. Kim Young-gwon is a great defender as well alongside Zhang.
No Robinho ? I'm surprised Rene jr wouldn't be involved, he sucks offensively but he can destroy, something that might be necessary against these teams.
Robinho wasn't registred to the ACL list. Elkeson was in his place. I don't know what are the rules for CWC. If are like in the AFC the same foreigners will remain I guess.
Depends on if the foreigner rules will be changed for CWC. In AFC, teams are only allowed 3 foreign players in match-day squads, which is why Rene Jr hasn't been in the first team. Robinho was signed after rosters for the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League were finalized, so he wasn't eligible to play. He may be able to for the CWC though, since I assume a new tournament means a new set of registered players. Hoping not over 3 goals against Barca. Last year's game against Bayern was "respectable" in score line, but the game was pretty much played in Evergrande's half. Hopefully they'll have a few more offensive forays despite losing, though I'm not holding my breath. Not to say Club America are pushovers though, I'd hope we can beat those guys first before thinking about Barca.
Honestly Huang Bowen and Elkeson have been pretty bad the first half. I would give Huang 10 more min after the break before he needs to be subbed out for Zheng Long. Sloppy passes in the midfield and pretty poor first touch
and what? Guangzhou wins 2-1! The additions of Gao Lin and Yu Hanchao after the hour was such a boon. Evergrande turned it up 5 notches and took it to America! Wow now we got a controversy. Elkeson or Gao Lin as striker for Barca game?
SO pumped, worth staying up until 4 AM! Performance in the last 20 minutes was amazing. First half was okay. Li Shuai picked a good day to play well, but still had some pretty damn shaky moments even when collecting the ball. Gao Lin did great after being subbed on, his first pass to Paulinho that set up the cut back was beautiful. Paulinho was pretty invisible until America scored, then really turned it on. Elkeson had an off day, a lot of poor touches and passes... don't even think he got a shot. Feng Xiaoting missed an open net, and is a ticking time bomb on defense. Hopefully they don't get ripped a new one by Barca.
Honestly Zhang Linpeng was pretty poor aside from a few dangerous crosses. Lost the ball on numerous occasions in his own half.
The Gao Lin sub changed the game. The difference between Scolari and that idiot NT coach is Scolari knows when to sub whom. Yu hanchao, Zheng Long, and Gao Lin, three subs that changed the course of the game. Fushida if you were pumped, now you must be bursting with excitement for Thursday's Barca match. How do you watch the game? TV? Does anyone have a live stream link? I'm thinking about just picking up and going to Yokohama for Thursday's game. Only if I could manage the schedule, and also somehow get a ticket in these late hours.
Quite excited, I must admit I was more excited for the America game as it's AFC vs CONCACAF, two federations I care much about. I also like to see wins more than losses! Unfortunately going to Japan isn't an option for me but I'll be streaming it once a link becomes available closer to the day. Definitely not on TV here, in Canada, where you'd be hard pressed to find any global footy on a regular cable channel, other than the Premier League. Definitely agree with you on the difference between Perrin and Scolari. I also find it funny because Mexican fans and pretty much the world press are saying America lost rather than GZ win. It's odd because if you even just look at the game stats, GZ was ahead on possession, passing, duels won, and pretty much every other stat other than total shots, and shots on goal. Even then, the majority of America's shots were from outside the box, whereas the majority of GZ's were inside. Granted America hit the crossbar once and should have done much better with a few of the free chances in the box, but Feng Xiaoting did miss an open net, and there were a few sitters missed by Goulart and Elkeson as well... Seems like AFC still got some ways to go to get some real respect. Really hope GZ and Hiroshima can perform well at least, even if they can't win, to get some recognition. Our NTs might suck but not always the clubs!
5:30 AM CCTV5 my time. No Japan but got the next best thing, a set top box that has CCTV5 on it. Alarm set. Super excited. But realistically, what do you guys think? Anything better than a 0-3 loss should be viewed as a victory? CCTV5 has some footage of the Guangzhou team preparing for this match. The players don't look like they are about to enter a fight to the death, instead, they seem like they are on vacation already. So, I don't know.
FK, dangerous spot just outside of the box. 15'30". Hit the wall. It probably should have been a penalty kick for Barca.
Finally, Guangzhou is looking like it's here to play ball. Got to remember, even the mighty Barca players are only human. The ones in the pitch anyway